#again: lets tie utena themes into it!

[jeanstapleton]

irt that theory i also kinda...dont want it to be something completely metatextual like watching an ep & then suddenly transitioning to an external character writing the actual story would have as much of an impact as "woah it was all a dream!!". i do want the fabric of reality to have intentionally been tugged at by the characters themselves. humans in the fargo universe are average joe schmoes but like anyone else we have the power to shape our own reality, & fargo just takes that a step further with its gothic storytelling; the unavoidable feeling of being watched or judged or even ignored by a higher power, and the desperation that comes from that. i also agree with the rule of three & the idea of dot, munch, & gator having three mandatory choices ahead of them once their arcs reach their conclusion since it emphasizes the importance of autonomy that much more. just without the idea of things looping back like funny games. the ticket number in the court scene with danish had 313 on it to start with, so in my opinion, munch & dot will fully examine their three choices, while gator in his narrow-mindedness will choose one.

[batsplat]

btw at le mans 2013 some vale fans had a huge (cringey ofc) banner which went like

yzr-m1: someday my prince will come

vale badly photoshoped as a prince: sorry babe

here’s how we can tie this to rgu and the whole prince&princess theme

also remember how in rgu the movie utena turns into a car and all? well what if valentino had some weird (vaguely erotic) dreams in that vein…….

(x, x) kermit at that poster not at the ask, to be clear!! weird ass sport

anyway, let's talk more about how to apply surrealist anime rgu to motogp! and yes, again, we are kinda stripping rgu from a lot of the stuff it was Actually About, but y'know on the other hand it'd also be flattening that particular artwork if your stance is that the 'only' things the story is relevant to is like. cycles of abuse. structural patriarchy. on-screen depictions of sibling relationships designed to make you extremely uncomfortable. all that stuff. so we are taking it as read for the rest of this post that rgu deals with more serious stuff than competitive sports and work from there

the car stuff!! anthy's prince literally turns into a vehicle to allow her to escape! it ends with both of them like... intertwined on the remaining husk of that vehicle, riding off into freedom. also the car looks cool

this isn't super relevant, I was just thinking about how much fun they made that car. like they made sidepod-wings into horsies. eat your heart out, ducati

now, in the film this is basically a metaphor for growing up, right. anthy is finally breaking out of the school and embracing her revolution by quite literally freeing herself from the prison she had both been entrapped in and had continued to entrap herself in. and isn't that... isn't that basically what valentino is doing when he's leaving honda for yamaha. well, no, obviously it's nothing like that. but say that it was like that, and that essentially this is the process of growing up, coming of age, growing into his own or whatever you want to call it. self-actualisation. a spiritual journey to a different bike manufacturer. valentino does think he's like... imprisoned in honda, it's his whole theme that year, he does a cute callback when he's won the title. brno 2003 is both the prisoner celebration and where he signs for yamaha, like he's not really being subtle about this. and the only way he can fully become himself is standing on his own two feet, thrive or fail, at yamaha. because now he's no longer following the path that's been set out for him. honda was comfortable in many ways, it was a very pretty prison - even if he felt underappreciated, he was still the golden boy at The Most Successful Manufacturer, he'd inherited doohan's team, he was building up a dynasty of his own. he was leaving behind basically... a completely guaranteed title for 2004 and most likely years beyond that for something far less secure

there is a kinda. obvious point here. and it's that according to this framing, valentino is implicitly being cast in the role of the princess. and the bike is the prince, who is being ridden to safety. which fits into the idea that there's like,, a deeply possessive element, of the bike towards the rider, and that's basically the key prince trait beyond lip service commitment to 'nobility'. I think that does kinda... work, not just because the contrast with the expected gender roles makes it more interesting, but also because 'seeing a vehicle as a symbol of liberation' inherently feels like a very valentino thing. the thing about anthy is that it's always a bit unclear how much power she has over what's happening, but when you rewatch the show enough times you do increasingly go 'huh has she been psychologically tormenting all of these characters for over thirty episodes as a diversion from the horrors of existence'. and the film very much then becomes... her version of events, if you will, where her brother the devil (that guy sure keeps cropping up in these asks) has become this defanged parody of himself,, and it really becomes more about her using utena to make the final step. or something!! obviously this is only one interpretation etc etc. but idk I think there's a fun element of this dual role of 'princess' and 'witch' where you've got a character who increasingly exerts autonomy over their own narrative and plays god a little bit and can also force other characters into slightly sadistic mini-arcs where they get turned into cows and who eventually brute forces their own vision on the world. because they do have power, and they are the instigator of the entire plot

so. so. I think one of my favourite things about valentino is... okay, so I don't actually really like when athletes are that good. with both valentino and marc, I have a very begrudging attitude towards just how successful they are, because that level of dominance is extremely 'meh' to me as a sports fan. they're really the exception here as far as I'm concerned, I'm very tenuously okay with their title count but it is also A Bit Much. but the thing about valentino, right, is that he mostly gets around that bit of my brain by also seemingly have a bit of an issue with dominance. the way he progressed through the ranks to the premier class is like,, nowadays, doesn't even stand out as notable because that's Just How Feeder Series Work, but back then it wasn't as guaranteed because they weren't feeder series!! it's not necessarily like clearing a level... you can just stick around to win more than one of these titles, and valentino was seriously considering doing as much but decided to move up anyway. I think there's something fun about how he kinda needs a certain difficulty level to get his brain into it. he's flirting with depression after 2002, writing in his autobiography about how AWFUL it is that winning isn't FUN any more, does his insane little yamaha switch which somehow worked out for him, got really into his f1 flirtations until quite literally when he starts losing again... he needs a bit of drama, he needs enemies, he needs MEANING!! I think inherently he's very suited to any role that casts him as a quasi-malicious storyteller, especially one that's searching for like,, some kind of Growth and progression. and also playthings. which then regularly feeds into a set of callous behaviours towards The Competition when it's seen as necessary. or just satisfying

the way this works when you. y'know. personify the bike into the prince,, is that inherently the prince's pov on this is also quite selfish, right, like it's a saviour complex and thinking you are The One who can claim the princess as your own. the prince can keep the princess safe... who can be used by the princess/witch as a tool to bring about world revolution, and so on. the prince attempts to control the princess, and the princess is devoted to the prince. and also, they can make each other worse!! it's kind of... eventually as a duo they can become so dedicated to this sick game they're playing that basically any act is excusable as long as it helps them win. anyway crucially I do think if you did a surrealism on valentino's brain, some blue haired girl personification of the m1 rocking up to save him from his shackles and allow him to finally attain revolution by turning into a vehicle and literally carrying him to safety... does sound about right, yeah. weird erotic bike fantasies and all

[xxxdoppel]

And here he is. My OC. xxxALeC.

It’s rare when I draw or design something that does not make me feel embarrassed two weeks after I’m done with it, so it was exciting to see him again and realize he’s so cvnt! If he could have a theme soundtrack it’d be “Sour Candy” by LG.

I don’t really remember my whole thought process for him, though. It’s been a while but, at least, I recall enough to roughly explain his story and design.

I always envisioned my own world in the Puella Magi series to involve magical “girls” who where serial killers. There was so much boundless freedom and so many ways to express your magical powers that feeding the reason of your survival made the lives of others an interesting gamble.

It was a little sad to me when Himena’s story began unfolding and I realized my idea was too similar in some aspects. xxxALeC’s wish was quite the same, but given a different purpose. But, whatever. Not like I’m ever planning to write his story anyway so who the fuck cares, Mary?

Let’s go back to the important things.

The first version of him is the black ensemble. The one he originally transforms into. I wanted him to look feminine. Someone who is perfectly confident, perfectly content, perfectly sure of where they belong to to be comfortable to be masculine and feminine at the same. Lethal, sexy, cvnt and no fucks to give to no random ass motherfucker. Something like that.

The second outfit is what he eventually evolves into. His development is the life of a flower. A bud who blooms into a rose of despair. There is no hope for a serial killer. You can only kill one person in your life… because you pay for that soul with your own. He has already killed way too many to dream for something better.

Valentino red. That’s his favorite color. It matches well with blood, I guess.

I don’t know if you know this but I’m a really big fan of Revolutionary Girl Utena, so it makes sense my weapon is a sword. A big one. Ladies, is it gay to feel sexually attracted to big deadly blades?

His soul gem is a fun little detail. I started drawing random shapes until I realized I had made a vagina. She’s open, juicy and intricately wonderful. I like to tell myself he’s a void to feel special, but he’s most likely a dark slut… because Kanagi is queen of darkness OF COURSE sis.

Abraxas, the doll maker witch. Her nature is depersonalization-derealization. A flower who once attracted many clients and there was something else here but I totally forgot the full description I came up with lol! Something about vessels and magical girls.

This is kind of a controversial topic, but this witch was inspired by a certain famous murder that occurred in North America in the late 90’s about a certain young gay man… well… if you know you know. I thought it’d be interesting to create something powerful out of such tragedy. I do apologize if I went too far. It does tie well with xxxALeC’s story, though.

I actually came up with two concepts for this witch. Let’s call them “the good ending” and “the bad ending.” This one that you’re seeing is the good ending. Now I wish I had kept the rough draft of the second one. It was kinda lit, if you don’t mind me saying.

I love horror stories and I’ve always wanted a magical girl story that was also a horror movie. There are magical girl murders and death out there, but there isn’t really magical girl horror that truly gives you a fright. If I had enough motivation to write long stories I’d definitely LOVE to come out with a story like that.

[zmyaro]

SongZ Wrapped 2023!

As with previous years, I know Spotify Wrapped happens at the beginning of December (and stops collecting data earlier), but I wanted to continue doing top songs for the whole year. Once again, there were newly acquired songs and newly revived hyperfixations only at the end of the year.

Because several songs near the end had equal play counts, I decided to let several tie for #100.

This year's miscellaneous observations include:

I certainly wasn't surprised to see Tears Of The Kingdom at the top or Spider-Verse and my favorite song from So Much (For) Stardust right behind it. Those were easily some of my favorite media/events of the year. Speaking of which...

I also wasn't surprised to see my favorite song from the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, one of my other favorite works of the year. Absolute bop.

And on that note, one of my favorite Mario Kart songs of all time right behind it since the Booster Course Pass got me solidly back on Mario Kart music in general.

I wasn't surprised the brief return of my Portal hyperfixation brought Portal music to my top 100, but I was surprised “You Wouldn't Know” was the only one to make it, and so high!

Most of the Doctor Who music on the list got there in December—some after the 60th anniversary specials, but actually a lot only after the Christmas special! The 1996 movie theme made it all the way to #4 (and “The Shepherd's Boy to the top 20) in just the last 5 days of the year! After Six and Hadestown not doing so well at the end of their years, this might be the most surprising in the top 10—or even top 20!

I wasn't surprised some Sarah & The Safe Word made the list (though I kind of expected more), but I was surprised “Ruby Off The Rails” wasn't the highest since it was the one that stuck in my head most from the new album.

With all the other Mario Kart music, I was surprised the Tour version of “Berlin Byways” didn't make the list since that was another I listened to a lot.

I was surprised “Planet Of The Bass” ended up so low with how much I listened to it when it came out, but I suppose the joke didn't last very long in hindsight.

I wouldn't have expected the Utena theme to break into the top 100 at all, let alone as high as it did. And if anything from Utena were going to, I would expect “Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku”.

I was surprised “The Wolf” by Siamés and “Coloris” by She didn't make the list—they were a couple songs I got from a friend this year that I particularly enjoyed.

I was also surprised by the lack of Porter Robinson because I recall listening to a fair bit.

I was also surprised there wasn't any Taylor Swift (not counting mashups) because I listened to quite a bit around Spotify Wrapped time, and obviously Doctor Who proved a sufficiently determined late-year hyperfixation can break into the top 100.

I don't know how noteworthy it is which soundtracks and hyperfixations didn't last. Part of me is a little sad how little Six is on the list.

After two years of saying I expected more mashups to rank higher, this year, the mashup spread feels about what I should have expected.

There continues to be no good way to fully automate generating alt text for these screenshots, but a script I wrote did a little more of the work for me than last year.